In Brief
Congress Strikes Deal for Fiscal Year 2024
Just over a year from the release of the White House proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2024, Congress was finally able to reach a bipartisan agreement to fund the federal government through September 30, 2024. While the agreement is good news from a procedural perspective, the budget is not good for science research funding overall.
The first of the two minibus packages passed on March 9 covered funding for six of the twelve overall appropriations bills, including funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science was one of the few research programs to fare better, getting a 1.7%, $140 million increase to $8.24 billion. But that boost won’t keep pace with the cost of inflation.
NSF fared considerably worse, with an 8.3% cut to $9.06 billion, some $820 million below 2023. Last year, NSF’s budget received an additional boost through emergency spending to fund the new Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) directorate, aimed at speeding discoveries to the marketplace. Those funds were not replenished through the regular budget process this year, contributing to the reduction. NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan was given discretion for deciding how to apportion the cuts within the agency.
The second minibus, passed on March 23, included funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding essentially leaves the agency ‘flat’ for this year at $41.7 billion dollars, down -1% from the $47.459 billion allotted to the agency in 2023. It should be noted that the final funding numbers for FY23 included additional funds appropriated through the 21st Century Cures Act, so while the FY24 budget is $300 million over the base funding for FY23, it is still a reduction from the total overall numbers NIH received in 2023. The final budget agreement favors a few research areas. The National Cancer Institute received a $120 million raise for research grants, Alzheimer’s disease research received a $100 million increase, and mental health research received $75 million more than in 2023. But most of NIH’s 27 institutes and centers will remain at roughly the FY23 funding levels. The budget for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) created 2 years ago remains at $1.5 billion.
White House Budget for Fiscal Year 2025
On March 11 the White House released the proposed budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025. It includes a +6.41% increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to raise the budget from $47.081 billion to $50.100 billion. The modest increase would still leave each institute with negligible increases overall, with the exception of three institutes – the National Cancer Institute (+8.51%), the National institute for Mental Health (+14.40%), the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (+6.68%) and the National Library of Medicine (+5.82%).
The request for the National Science Foundation (NSF) fares a bit better, with a request of $10.200 billion – an +13% increase over FY24. While the research areas within NSF will see modest adjustments, the President put the bulk of his request for funding into geosciences research (+56%) focusing on climate change. The Department of Energy Office of Science received a proposed increase of +4% for an overall budget of $8.600 billion. You can see detailed chart on FY24 and proposed FY25 spending on the BPS website here.
House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger Announces Resignation from Post
House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) announced her intention to resign her chairmanship of the most powerful committee in the House just days after Congress passed fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding. While Granger had already announced her intention to retire at the end of this Congress, she has asked the Republican caucus to name a replacement for her in all due haste as she intends to serve as an emeritus member of the committee as work begins on FY25. Transportation and HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) is the likely successor, but could face a challenge from Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Robert Aderholt (R-AL).